Former Whitman High rowing coach sentenced to three years for sex abuse

 

Kirk Shipley, a three-time All-Met coach, had pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two rowers at the Bethesda, Md., high school

ormer Walt Whitman High rowing coach Kirk Shipley was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for sexually abusing two former students — an outcome that appeared to stun the former Montgomery County teacher and his attorney.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan imposed 36 months for first-degree sexual abuse of a secondary education student and 24 months for possession of a sexual performance by a minor. She suspended two of the five years.

Shipley pleaded guilty to the felonies in June as part of a plea deal. He will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Shipley and his attorney had argued he should be given probation for his crimes. Speaking publicly for the first time since his arrest last year, the three-time All-Met Coach of the Year apologized to the victims, calling his actions “very, very wrong.” Shipley also expressed remorse about the impact on hundreds of his former students and athletes at the high-achieving school in Bethesda, Md., saying that he hoped that “those memories will be happy again” someday...

Former Whitman rowing coach Kirk Shipley gets three years for sex abuse - The Washington Post